Kiss Me (Fool's Gold series) (3 page)

Phoebe saw the potential problem. “Did people actually sign up for the cattle drive?”

“You got it. Even worse—Chase and his little friend collected money. Five hundred bucks a head. Chase took the money and day-traded with it.”

“Day-trading? Is he crazy?”

“He’s seventeen and immortal. You remember what that was like. He lost everything through some company going under. I don’t understand it. Anyway, big brother is refusing to bail him out. Zane says Chase has to learn once and for all that there are consequences for his actions.”

“Let me make sure I understand. You’re saying Chase sold vacations for a fake cattle drive, and people sent money?”

The two women looked at each other in silence for a long moment. Phoebe felt her lips twitch. When she saw Maya’s eyes crinkle at the corners, she lost it. In unison, they burst into a fit of giggles that drew the attention of the people at the other tables, which only made them laugh harder.

“Who
does
that?” Phoebe asked when she could speak again.

“I know! It’s terrible and hysterical. He’s an evil genius,” Maya said, wiping a tear from her eye. “It’s bad. Bad! Stop laughing. I know it’s wrong, but it’s also just so funny. That’s the part Zane doesn’t get. Someday, when Chase is a famous inventor, this is going to make a great story.”

The waiter showed up with their food, and Maya waited until he left before continuing.

“Zane and I went round and round for half an hour. People are expecting a vacation, and Chase played with their lives. We discussed everything from military school to jail time for the kid. Actually it was kind of interesting to have Zane want my opinion.”

“So what did you decide?”

Maya smiled. “What I never would have guessed. On Saturday morning, a group of city slickers will be showing up on the sacred ground that is the Nicholson Ranch. Zane is going to take them on a cattle drive, along with Chase. He’s going to give the kid all the crap jobs, hoping to teach him a lesson.”

Phoebe considered the information. On the one hand, she could appreciate Zane’s frustration. On the other, she could relate to Chase. She’d been a screwup her whole life, too.

“Did Chase want you to rescue him?”

“Yes, and I was forced to tell him no. But as a way of compromising, I agreed to come along on the cattle drive. When I told Zane, he was actually pleased.”

“Why?”

“I’ve nearly always taken Chase’s side. I think he wants me to see him for who he is, or some such nonsense.” Maya shrugged, her green eyes darkening. “The thing Zane can’t seem to figure out is that I already know Chase. I’m very aware of his flaws. But knowing about them doesn’t make me care about him any less. That would be an unknown concept to Zane. Anyway, the point of this story is to invite you along. You love animals and you’ve earned a vacation.”

“A cattle drive?”

“Why not? You claim to like the outdoors, and as long as Zane doesn’t open his mouth and actually speak, he’s pretty easy on the eyes.” Maya grabbed a chip. “You work hard all the time. Do something for yourself. You can use my frequent-flier miles.”

The offer was tempting, Phoebe thought. She had a couple of weeks until her interviews, and she
had
just sworn off taking care of the world.

“I’m tempted, but my idea of the rugged outdoors is watering the plants on my patio. I’ve never been close to a horse. Aren’t they big and smelly?”

“They don’t smell half so bad as the steers, but we can stay upwind.” Maya smiled. “I think we’ll have fun. Besides, after what you’ve been through, you could use a break. You’ll be able to think more clearly from the back of a horse.”

Phoebe would never in a million years have thought of going on a cattle drive. But she’d promised herself that she was going to make changes and try new things. She was going to reinvent herself. Maybe the new Phoebe Kitzke would enjoy a cattle drive.

“Okay,” she said. “I’ll go.”

“You won’t regret it,” Maya promised. “I already have a flight booked for Friday afternoon. I can’t get away before then because I have a bunch of video segments to edit. But I was hoping you wouldn’t mind going tomorrow. Just to distract Zane. He’s so furious with Chase, I’m afraid they’re going to get into a fistfight or something.”

Phoebe stared at her friend. “You’re crazy.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but if you were there, Zane would have to behave.”

“I’m not going to show up two days early. I’ve never even met the man. I can’t arrive on his doorstep with no warning.”

“Oh, I’d warn him,” Maya promised.

Phoebe shook her head. “No. I’ll go with you on Friday. Not before.” Besides, her no-more-favors vow was only an hour old. She couldn’t violate it yet.

Maya shrugged. “Okay. That’s fine. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s just I worry about Chase. He was so young when his mom died. Zane practically left him to raise himself. Plus, he’s really vulnerable right now, what with trying to figure out girls and think about college. And he’s the only family I have.”

Phoebe grabbed another chip and tried not to feel as if she’d just kicked a kitten. Maya’s tactics were completely transparent. She was trying to guilt Phoebe into doing what she wanted. There was absolutely no way it was going to work.

CHAPTER THREE

P
HOEBE
’
S
FLIGHT
TOUCHED
DOWN
in Sacramento a little after three o’clock on Wednesday. She’d spent most of the flight from Los Angeles calling both herself and Maya names. She absolutely could not believe she’d given in so easily. One or two protests and she was as unyielding as bread pudding.

Now she was going to have to explain her presence to a man she’d never met.

She headed for the baggage-claim area to collect her two suitcases. Not knowing what June weather was like in the mountains, she’d brought plenty of clothes to layer, along with several pairs of jeans, and some boots she’d dug out from the back of her closet. The boots were a reminder of a brief but intense fondness for all things Western.

While waiting for the luggage to arrive, she tucked her headset into her carry-on. When she hadn’t been berating Maya and herself, she’d been listening to self-improvement audio books and working on her mind-centering meditation. Unfortunately the former tended to make her doze off and the latter had a three-part breathing technique that started her coughing. Not something to endear her to her seatmates.

She glanced around, noting several men, but no one fitting Zane’s description. Maya had claimed he looked like Adam Levine. One of
People
magazine’s sexiest men alive.

Phoebe was skeptical and more than a little nervous. What was she going to say to an Adam Levine look-alike cowboy on the drive to the ranch? She’d tried to rent her own car, but Maya had insisted she would never find her way.

Five minutes later Phoebe had wrestled her two bags off the carousel and hooked them together so she could wheel them outside. She remained escort-less. Okay, so she would give Zane thirty minutes, then she would find a shuttle to Fool’s Gold and figure out her next move. If she had to she could always—

The sliding doors opened, and a man entered the baggage area. A tall, dark-haired man with incredibly broad shoulders, a cowboy hat and a gaze so penetrating Phoebe knew he could probably tell what color her panties were.

He moved with the kind of stride and purpose of someone who was never indecisive, confused or anything other than in charge. He was gorgeous. Adam Levine gorgeous. Of course.

Any small shred of confidence she might have cultivated from her self-help books went belly-up like a zapped bug. She tried to brush off the last of the peanut dust from the front of her yellow T-shirt and wished for the millionth time in her life that she was tall, blonde, blue-eyed and stunning. Actually, right now she would take any one of the four.

“Phoebe Kitzke?”

The man had stopped in front of her. He had a deep, beautiful voice that made her thigh muscles quiver. This close she could see the multiple shades of deep blue that made up his eyes. He didn’t smile. On the whole she would say he looked about as far from happy as it was possible to be while still breathing.

“I’m Phoebe,” she said, afraid she sounded as tentative as she felt. Why hadn’t Maya warned her? Saying Zane was good-looking was like saying summer in the desert was warm.

“Zane.”

He held out his hand. She wasn’t sure if he wanted to shake or take her luggage. She erred on the side of good manners and found her fingers engulfed in his.

The instant heat didn’t surprise her, nor did the melting sensation. Everything else was going wrong in her life—it made sense for her body to betray her, too.

She mentally jerked her attention away from her traitorous thighs and noticed that he had a really big hand. Phoebe tried not to think about those old wives’ tales. She tried not to think about anything except the fact that she was going to kill Maya the next time she saw her.

“Nice to meet you,” she said when he’d released her. “Maya says the ranch is some distance from the airport, and I really appreciate you coming all this way to collect me.”

His only response was to pick up her luggage. He didn’t bother with the wheels, instead carrying the bags out as if they weighed as much as a milk carton. Uh-huh. She’d nearly thrown out her entire back just wrestling them into the car. While in the past she’d never been all that interested in men with muscles, she could suddenly see the appeal of well-developed biceps.

Zane headed for the parking lot, and Phoebe trailed after him. He didn’t seem to be much of a talker. That could make the drive to the ranch incredibly long.

He drove a truck, which didn’t surprise her, but the fact that he held the passenger door open for her did. When her foot slipped on the metal step, he grabbed her elbow and gave her a little push into the cab. After stowing her luggage in the area behind his seat, he climbed in himself and settled next to her.

He towered over her as much while seated as he had while standing. Phoebe fastened her seat belt, then gave him a quick glance. Her heart did a one and a half somersault with a half twist at the sight of his profile. He looked good enough to be on a coin.

As Zane drove toward the exit, Phoebe searched frantically for a topic of conversation. Nothing brilliant came to mind. She nibbled on her lower lip as she considered risking the truth. When nothing better occurred to her, she decided to dive right into the cowboy-infested water.

“So this is really strange, huh?”

Zane glanced at her but didn’t speak.

She cleared her throat. “Me being here. I mean you don’t know me from a rock, and I’m going to be staying at the ranch for a couple of days. Maybe we should get to know each other, so the situation isn’t so awkward.”

“If you don’t feel like you belong, why did you come?”

She spent a good three seconds mentally swooning over the sound of his voice before processing his words. He wasn’t exactly welcoming.

“Well, um, several reasons,” she said, stalling, then couldn’t think of any but one. She sighed. “Maya guilted me into it.”

“What did she tell you? That I keep Chase locked in a tower and feed him bread and water?”

Phoebe winced. “Not exactly.”

“But close.”

“Um, maybe.”

Zane’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. “She’s always had a soft spot for Chase.”

“He must be really smart. That must make you proud. I certainly couldn’t design a website and entice people to sign up for a cattle-drive vacation.”

Zane’s ever-so-perfect mouth tightened. “He lied, stole and committed fraud. Pride doesn’t much enter into it for me.”

Phoebe hunched down in her seat. “If you’re going to put it like that,” she mumbled and turned her attention to the scenery.

Signs of civilization quickly gave way to rugged isolation. A mile marker along the side of the road announced that Fool’s Gold was forty-two miles away.

She’d read up on the little town last night. Their slogan was The Destination for Romance. She cast a sidelong glance at Zane. Somehow, she didn’t think the slogan would hold true for her. The man could not be less interested in her.

Mountain peaks rose in the distance. She caught glimpses of white-capped currents in a river that flashed between the thick trees along the side of the road. No doubt the area was teeming with wildlife. Phoebe liked little forest creatures as much as the next person, just so long as she didn’t have to worry about them scurrying across the road or showing up on a serving platter.

What would it be like on the ranch? She’d never been on one before, hadn’t even seen one except on TV or in the movies.

“So are there lots of cows?” she asked before she could stop herself. “On the ranch, I mean.”

Zane didn’t spare her a glance. “Some.”

“Like twenty?”

He glanced at her then, before turning his attention back to the road. “We run several thousand head of steers. Those are the ones that end up on your barbecue. I have another few hundred head of cows for breeding purposes.”

“No bulls?” she asked, unable to keep from grinning.

He sighed the sigh of the long suffering. “A dozen or so.”

“A dozen bulls for a few hundred cows?”

Mr. Hunk-in-a-hat, who had put his hat on the seat between them when he’d climbed into the cab, chuckled. “Yup.”

“Yet another example of our patriarchal society ignoring the rights of cows.”

“You worried about cows’ rights?” He sounded both incredulous and amused. “You a lawyer?”

“No. And I’m not concerned about cows’ rights. Of course I want them treated humanely, as any civilized person would, but I’m not crazy.”

“What are you, then?”

“What?”

He glanced at her. “If you’re not a lawyer, what are you?”

“Oh.” For a second she thought he’d been referring to her mental state. “I work in real estate.”

Fortunately Zane didn’t ask any questions about her career. She didn’t think that telling him she’d been suspended for litigation would improve his opinion of her. At least he was talking. She tried to think of more cattle-related questions.

“How long have you been in the ranching business?”

“All my life.”

Silence. Zane Nicholson wasn’t exactly chatty. Was it her or was it his personality?

“Do you ever sell the cattle for something other than food?”

Zane shifted in his seat. Had he been anyone else, she would have assumed the question made him uncomfortable. But he was too in-charge—too self-assured. Besides, what about it was embarrassing?

“Sometimes I’ll sell off a few cows if we have too many.”

“That makes sense. What about the bulls? Ever have too many of those?”

“Most of them become steers.”

She didn’t want to think about that. “So steers are boy cows?”

“That’s right.”

“What makes you decide who gets to have a really good life and who gets to be a burger?”

“Various factors. I’ve been working on genetically improving the herd.”

“So a new bull with favorable characteristics would get to stay a bull.”

He nodded.

“Sounds interesting,” she said, because it really was. Who knew that ranchers worried about genetics?

“You’re probably not going for things like eye color,” she said without thinking.

Zane didn’t even roll
his
eyes. “Not really.”

“I didn’t think so.”

“I work with several universities. We have breeding experiments. I also sell to other ranchers.”

“Your bulls?”

There was that seat squirm again. “No.”

Not bulls? “Cows?”

“Sperm.”

Phoebe blinked. “From the bulls?”

He nodded.

“You sell bull sperm?”

He nodded again.

Wow. There really were infinite ways to make a living. So how exactly did one get the sperm from the bull? She shook her head. Not something she wanted to know, she decided. Although she was intrigued by the question of what sort of marketing campaign would be most effective. Still, some subjects were better left unexplored, and this was definitely one of them.

She tried to think of something else to say. Anything, really. But how did one top bull sperm as a conversational gambit?

Maybe it was better if one didn’t try.

* * *

T
HEY
TURNED
OFF
the main highway, and Phoebe sat up straighter in her seat, eager for a glimpse of Fool’s Gold. Zane had rolled down his window a few miles back, and fresh-scented mountain air filled the truck. A few years ago, a reality show had been filmed in the town. She and Maya had had a standing date to watch it together. Phoebe couldn’t believe the place was as quaint as it had seemed on TV, but Maya had insisted it was more so.

Welcome to Fool’s Gold, proclaimed a sign surrounded by lush red-and-yellow flowers in the shape of a heart.

Zane turned right onto Lakeview Drive.

Phoebe caught her breath. “It’s so pretty!”

To their left, Lake Ciara sparkled in the mid-morning sun. To their right, children played in a large park under the watchful gazes of their mothers and of the mountains beyond. A huge, old oak tree provided shade for a couple stretched out on a pink blanket with their baby.

Just past the park, downtown Fool’s Gold rose up, though it didn’t rise up very high. She didn’t see a building that was more than three or four stories tall, and only a few of those. The shops were neat and tidy. An American flag flew at every corner, and baskets of flowers hung from the other lampposts along the block. A banner spanned the width of the street, advertising the Summer Festival in two weeks.

Zane pulled into a parking spot in front of a two-story blue brick building with a yellow awning. “Mitchell Tours” was painted in bold, white letters on the shop’s window.

“I’ve got some business in here for a few minutes, to arrange for pickup of the other guests later this week,” he said. “Do you want to wait in the truck or walk around?”